Unintended consequences of screening for Ebola

L.J. Faherty and C.A. Doubeni

American Journal of Public Health, 2015, vol. 105, issue 9, 1738-1739

Abstract: Ebola virus disease (EVD) reached the United States in September 2014, leadingthe Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to publish screening guidelines to identify patients with high-risk exposures at their first point ofcontactwiththehealth care system. InWest Africa, the burden of EVD is superimposed on thetraumaofdecadesof civil war, violence, and poverty. Therefore, an important consideration in implementing screening procedures in the United States is the potential to unintentionally exacerbate posttraumatic stress disorder, or add additional stress from stigma and discrimination, among theWestAfrican diaspora. We recommend rigorous research to develop and implement evidence-based, trauma-informed approaches to screening for communicablediseasesduringoutbreaks, usingprinciplesof communityengaged or community-based participatory research.

Keywords: Africa; Disease Outbreaks; epidemiology; ethnology; Hemorrhagic Fever, Ebola; human; mass screening; posttraumatic stress disorder; procedures; psychology; public health service; social stigma; United States, Africa, Western; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (U.S.); Disease Outbreaks; Hemorrhagic Fever, Ebola; Humans; Mass Screening; Social Stigma; Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic; United States (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:aph:ajpbhl:10.2105/ajph.2015.302768_7

DOI: 10.2105/AJPH.2015.302768

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